Tomato pin cushion



Aug. 23, 1966 e. w. ROTH 3,268,129

' TOMATO PIN CUSHION Filed July 6, 1964 In lllll "nun II-IIXIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR. GEORGE W. ROTH BYJM'QW ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,268,129 TOMATO PIN CUSHIUN George W. Roth, Queens Village, N.Y., assignor to Needlecraft Pad Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,448 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-109) The present invention pertains to a pin cushion which is tomato-shaped and is commonly termed a tomato pin cushion.

Heretofore tomato pin cushions have been manufactured having a sawdust,-cotton or similar type stufling as the body thereof. These pin cushions also have buds attached thereto which usually contain a combination of sawdust and emery powder therein for cleaning needles; said needles being inserted therein for purposes of cleaning the same. However, the abrasive action of the powdered emery upon said needles is in most instances insufficient to properly clean the needles; i.e., to remove oxidation and other impurities thereon. Another problem that is usually encountered in the manufacture of the aforesaid type of pin cushion is that after the body covering has been stuffed, one of the ends of said covering must be manually shirred and then sewn. This operation requires a substantial amount of time, labor and cost, and the resultant product does not have a neatly finished appearance.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tomato pin cushion which has a neatly finished appearance and which obviates the need for a complex shirring operation in the manufacture thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a tomato pin cushion having a body made of plastic material.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tomato pin cushion having a body covering made of a stretchable fabric.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tomato pin cushion having a pair of petals made of emery cloth thereon.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a tomato pin cushion which can be manufactured relatively easily and inexpensively.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent when considered in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a tomato pin cushion in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial side elevational view of the tomato pin cushion depicted by FIGURE 1 showing the top portion thereof partially disassembled.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the body of the tomato pin cushion of the present invention partially sectioned.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the tomato pin cushion with the parts thereof disassembled.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of one of the leaves shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a tomato pin cushion having a body portion 12; said body portion having a leaf 14 secured at the bottom thereof, and a leaf 16 and a pair of petals 18 secured to the top thereof.

The body portion 12 comprises a tomato-shaped plastic ball 20 having a hole 22 extending vertically therethrough, said ball being made of styrofoam, urethane foam or any other suitable plastic material, and a covering 24 which is preferably made of a knitted stretchable fabric, but may be made of any other suitable stretchable fabric. The body covering 24 is of a tubular configuration having a top end 26 and a bottom end 28, as best seen in FIGURE 3,268,129 Patented August 23, 1966 3; said top end being shirred by means of a staple 34) attached thereto and then inserted into the hole 22 at the top of said body portion, and said bottom end being shirred by inserting the same into said hole at the bottom of said body portion (as seen in FIGURE 4).

Petals 18, having stems 19, consist of an inner surface of emery cloth 31 and an outer surface of flock 32; said flock being applied to the smooth or rear surface of said emery cloth. The stems 19 of said petals are inserted into a slit 36 in the leaf 16 (as shown in FIGURE 5) and then secured, as by gluing, to the leaf 16 and the top end 26 of said covering 24, said leaf also being glued to said shirred top end, thereby securing said petals and said leaf to said body portion. The bottom leaf 14 is similarly glued to the shirred bottom end 28 of said covering 24 to complete the assembly of said tomato pin cushion.

In the present embodiment of the invention the leaves 14 and 16 are made of a green colored felt material, while the body covering 24 and the flock 32 are made of red colored material, thus giving said pin cushion the illusory appearance of a tomato. However, the pin cushion may be made from any color material, thereby forming a tomato pin cushion which has colors other than red and green; e.g., yellow and green.

It should be noted that when it is desired to clean a needle all that is required is that the needle be inserted between said petals, which are then pressed together by an individuals thumb and forefinger and the needle is rotated therebetween, the abrasive surface of said emery cloth being sufiicient to remove any oxidation or other impurities on said needle.

It should also be noted that while I have described said tomato pin cushion as having the top end 26 thereof shirred by means of a staple 30 attached thereto, it is also possible to shirr said end by merely inserting the same into the top of the hole 22.

It is thus seen that I have provided a new and novel type pin cushion which can be manufactured easily and inexpensively and which has a completely reliable needle cleaning means as a part thereof.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, there are many modifications which may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A tomato pin cushion including a body portion formed of a tomato-shaped plastic ball having a hole extending vertically therethrough and a covering of stretchable fabric thereon, said covering having end portions adapted to be shirred by insertion into said hole, a leafshaped felt piece secured to each end portion of said covering, and a pair of petals formed of emery cloth secured to said leaf-shaped felt piece at the top end of said body portion.

2. A tomato pin cushion in accordance with claim 1, wherein said tomato-shaped plastic ball is made of styrofoam and said petals have flock applied to one surface of said emery cloth to form the outer surface of said petals.

3. A tomato pin cushion including a body portion formed of a tomato-shaped styrofoam plastic ball having a hole extending vertically therethrough and a tubular covering of knitted stretchable fabric thereon, said covering having a top end portion and a bottom end portion, a staple, said top end portion being shirred by attaching said staple to said top end portion and inserting the same into said hole at the top of said ball, said bottom end portion being shirred by inserting the same into said hole at the bottom of said ball, a first leaf-shaped felt piece covering said hole and being secured to said bottom end portion, a second leaf-shaped felt piece having a slit therein, a pair of petals having stems, said petals being formed of emery cloth and having flock applied to one surface thereof to form the outer surface of said petals, said petals being inserted into said slit in said second leaf-shaped felt piece and secured thereto, and said stems and said second leaf-shaped felt piece covering said hole and being secured to said top end portion of said body covering.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Slater 223108 Pierce 223109 Richards 223109 Fraser et a1. 223-109 Kingman 223--109 X Mock 223109 X Mahon 223109 Liniger 223-409 10 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

3. A TOMATO PIN CUSHION INCLUDING A BODY PORTION FORMED OF A TOMATO-SHAPED STYROFOAM PLASTIC BALL HAVING A HOLE EXTENDING VERTICALLY THERETHROUGH AND A TUBULAR COVERING OF KNITTED STRETCHABLE FABRIC THEREON, SAID COVERING HAVING A TOP END PORTION AND A BOTTOM END PORTION, A STAPLE, SAID TOP END PORTION BEING SHIRRED BY ATTACHING SAID STAPLE TO SAID TOP END PORTION AND INSERTING THE SAME INTO SAID HOLE AT THE TOP OF SAID ALL, SAID BOTTOM END PORTION BEING SHIRRED BY INSERTING THE SAME INTO SAID HOLE AT THE BOTTOM OF SAID BALL, A FIRST LEAF-SHAPED FELT PIECE COVERING SAID HOLE AND BEING SECURED TO SAID BOTTOM END PORTION, A SECOND LEAF-SHAPED FELT PIECE HAVING A SLIT THEREIN, A PAIR OF PETALS HAVING STEMS, SAID PETALS BEING FORMED OF EMERY CLOTH AND HAVING FLOCK APPLIED TO ONE SURFACED THEREOF TO FORM THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID PETALS, SAID PETALS BEING INSERTED INTO SAID SLIT IN SAID SECOND LEAF-SHAPED FELT PIECE AND SECURED THERETO, AND SAID STEMS AND SAID SECOND LEAF-SHAPED FELT PIECE COVERING SAID HOLE AND BEING SECURED TO SAID TOP END PORTION OF SAID BODY COVERING. 